Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life Taking Stock

Taking Stock for October

October 10, 2023

Surely I am looooooong overdue for a Taking Stock post … It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?! Gosh I miss blogging. I hope I can make it more of a regular habit over the next few months. Best laid plans etc etc! Taking Stock Getting – better, I think, very slowly but surely. I hope! Touch wood. God it’s been a terrible slog and a big realignment. Cooking – a roast chicken dinner tonight, just need to grab some parsnips…

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Everyday Life Pip-Life

The Melbourne files : 001

March 10, 2023

A sometimes series, possibly … When I moved to Melbourne I was just a teenager, full of hope and wanting to belong. It took me two attempts – or one false start, depending on your perspective – to make sense of things. I was all naïveté and rose coloured glasses. My first attempt was at 16 and it didn’t go so well.  After initially staying with my Melbourne-based best friend, I bounced from creepy share house to share house, finally…

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Newsy Nice Life Reminders

Kids these days …

March 9, 2023
Illustration of child eating at dining table. there is a goat in the doorway. Artwork is by Mary Blair.

When I was a kid the flow of info and ideas was pretty limited. Our town library was pretty small, as was the library at school.  We had a handful of TV and radio stations … and of course, no internet. The news was the hourly bulletins on the airwaves in the car on the way home from the shops or the evening news on the ABC while waiting for a much better show to come on. Our town only…

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Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life Taking Stock

Taking Stock A-Z

November 14, 2022

Argh. I’ve been stuck in bed (mostly) for the last few weeks and struggling to do very much. I’m determined, however, to try to do some of my favourite things … and that includes writing here. My friend Denyse has been the impetus for this post. She’s updated the Taking Stock prompts in the very best way, alphabetising them and breathing new life into something I love. (More about that here – and thank you, so VERY belatedly, Denyse.) So…

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Good Stuff Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life

What’s cheering me up …

October 14, 2022
A floral couch and crocheted blanket plus pillows AND a plate of cheese on toast

Inspired by a favourite YouTuber (the brilliantly bookish Gina Stanyer) I thought a post about bolstering things would be a very good idea! Here are some things that have proven cheery this week (and possibly every week!) Cheese on toast It’s really such a simple comfort with a giant cup of tea, especially with lots of freshly ground pepper … perhaps some chutney and a slice or two of tomato snuck underneath the cheese? Or perhaps a special Stephanie Alexander…

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Good Stuff I'm Happy For Nice Life Reminders

I’m happy for …

October 7, 2022
Georgia O'Keeffe by Stieglitz

Lots of interesting types are doing good things and I thought it would be an excellent idea to BE HAPPY FOR THEM and talk about their cleverness and progress and my bare-faced admiration and companionable feelings. I’m happy for … Hetty who has a brand new book out called Tenderheart. It looks amazing (like her others!) and I have reserved it at the library and can NOT wait for it to touch down! Rhonda who has totally nailed auditing her…

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Good Stuff Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life

Good things you might like

October 7, 2022

I’m waking up so early these days. I stare at the gap between the curtains and the window frame, wishing for light, trying not to to shift about under the blankets too much, lest the dogs realise I’m awake and begin a well-intentioned, smoochy pre-dawn onslaught. Here’s hoping this early waking is just a temporary thing because once we’re up the dogs MUST go outside and they can be a bit excitedly barky and don’t care a jot if the…

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Everyday Life Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life

Things I’ve been doing …

October 4, 2022

Look. Let’s face it. I have not been doing a lot of things as my health has been down the crapper and I’ve been spending a lot of time on bedrest. THAT SAID I’ve managed to keep working at my creative writing degree because I am blinking determined to finish it and I don’t want to give up on learning … I love it so much! I haven’t been posting here much because I am having trouble affording the hosting…

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Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life

Kindness …

August 7, 2022
tea cosy by pip Lincolne

Maybe you know that my boys’ dad died in June? His memorial was in July and I can’t tell you how much it meant to have a bunch of friends and family turn up to support us at such a hard time. Everyone was so kind and thoughtfully checked in one-by-one … and it had felt like such an age since we’d had a chance to be around a big group of people linked by a common thread. When I…

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Nice Life Reminders Pip-Life

Sludge & Sparkle

July 14, 2022

Today, I was at the local grocery shop checkout. It’s at the back of the store and is used by people who park in the adjacent rear carpark, beyond the wonky automatic door. I was feeling a bit shit, to be honest, after the loss of another close family member this week. I had a bottle of Ribena, a small container of freshly squeezed orange juice and a four-pack of Limonata on the counter. I was the only person waiting…

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Pip-Life This Week

This Week: 002

June 23, 2022
Kate Bush arms outstretched over bunches of daffodils. Image is black and white.

Hallo pal! Hi! It’s been pretty weird in these here parts. Exhausting and stressful, to be honest. The boys’ dad – my former partner – Cameron died as a result of Motor Neurone Disease earlier this month, a bit over a year after he was first diagnosed. He’d been unwell for quite some time. Naturally it’s been a confusing and sad time for us all, but especially for the boys. I don’t even know what to say about it, to…

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Eat Pip-Life

A bunch of low-cost dinner ideas to help with this nutso cost of living palaver

June 9, 2022

Everything is poxily expensive but we can still eat delicious things, pals! Because I am a nerd I thought it would be a good idea to bundle up a bunch of ideas for a week’s worth of eats. This is a generous amount of food, with lots of leftovers so you can probably skip a recipe or two and still have a fridge full of excellent and nourishing things.  I know that for some people these ideas will still likely…

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Pip-Life This Week

This Week 001

May 20, 2022

What better way to dive back into more regular blogging than to start a new series?! The days are so long and short of late, it might feel good to pause and make a wee list of where things are at? Here I go … Life and loss It’s been a week of emotional turmoil as the reality of different approaches to grief plays out in our family. Cam (my boys’ dad) has advanced Motor Neurone Disease so the boys…

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Everyday Life Pip-Life

I’m back! (I think!)

May 15, 2022
a dark green finger-knitted scarf forming the word 'YAY'. There is a yellow pompom at each end of the scarf.

Not going to lie, I’ve been feeling a little bit EXTRA-lost over the past year or so. Perhaps you had guessed that due to my uncharacteristically long absence here? Perhaps you have been way too busy with your own challenges? Either is ok, of course. I suppose the combination of work/job drama, the loss of my Nan, health challenges, moving interstate, family drama, moving interstate again (and all the confusion/exhaustion that brought) and all the things the pandemic brought has…

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